Colombia’s joy at moving on to the knockout round at this World Cup was tempered by concern for their star from the last one. James Rodriguez left in the 31st minute of the team’s 1-0 victory over Senegal on Thursday night. The victory pushed the Colombians through to the round of 16 for the second straight World Cup. Los Cafeteros will play England on Tuesday in Moscow. Immediately following the victory, the thoughts of many players and coach Jose Pekerman were with Rodriguez, the Bayern Munich attacking midfielder who has been bothered by a calf injury since the start of the tournament.
“I am very concerned; it is a situation for us,” Pekerman said. “He trained normally for us until yesterday. He was fully fit in training, and in the last training session, there was no hint of any injury. Right now, I don’t know where he stands.”
Four years ago Colombia played to the quarterfinals, finally falling to Brazil. Rodriguez was the team’s star with six total goals, most of any player in the tournament. He did not start in Los Cafeteros opener in Russia, playing the final 30 minutes of a 2-1 loss to Japan. He started in the second game, a 3-0 victory over Poland. He was named the man of the match for his two assists.